“The iPod, as most of the world understood it, is no more. The discontinuation of the iPod nano and iPod shuffle represented a second fall for the pioneering music player, which saw its original first form factor disappear when Apple retired the hard drive-based iPod classic,” Ross Rubin writes for ZDNet. “But while a product in Apple’s device family still bears the name iPod, it is one in name only even as it plays music.”

“While the iPod nano and shuffle were in decline for many years, the lack of compatibility with Apple Music became the final nail in their coffin. Apple could have brought them into the fold, but the Apple Watch is now its option for a those who want something smaller than an iPhone accompanying their runs,” Rubin writes. “The iPod served as a bridge between Apple as a PC maker mounting a comeback to purveyor of the world’s strongest ecosystem spanning hardware, software and services. Its influence can still be seen in the iPhone and what comes after it.”